Micro Needling: The money it will save you from expensive facial sessions

In my earlier post on how I save nearly half of my salary, the topic Micro Needling was mentioned.

My apologies to UN for reading his comments this late, requesting for more information on this topic.

Micro needling or other facial treatments commonly costs us around $100 or more in Singapore facial outlets. Some of us may avoid paying such hefty fees despite hoping to look younger or better. Many are unware that it is a problem that can be solved by themselves.

When my dermatologist shared that micro needling is a faster process than most other procedures, it led me to do some further research. I was astounded to find out that we can easily do it ourselves, saving us from facial packages. In fact, it is a growing trend and some celebrities are also having these treatments.

So What is Micro Needling?

The process consists of rolling many teeny-tiny needles over your skin, to encourage collagen/elastin production from beneath. This results in younger, clearer skin and lightening of wrinkles/marks/scars.

One must be able to bear some pain and take precautions while performing such invasive process.

Micro Needling Products

We can get the needed products within Singapore. XMedicImports used to have an outlet in Bedok but is now limited to its sole outlet in Jurong.

Fret not as their products can be mailed to your doorstep. Delivery costs will appear accordingly on their online platform based on the products that you picked. If you need further assistance on which product suits you best, you can contact them via email stated on their site. For faster response, you can drop an instant message at their Carousell account.

Alcohol Disinfectant

Derma Roller

Meso Calm Solution

Medical Grade Oxygen

How to perform Facial Micro Needling

1)      Cleanse your face and make it dry.

2)      Apply Meso Calm on your face to hydrate it.

3)      Disinfect your Derma Roller with Alcohol Disinfectant. Make sure to dry your Derma roller to rid the alcohol before you start micro needling.

4)      There is an effective and correct way of doing derma rolling. The below video shows us the required directions (up and down, and diagonally up and down) and how you should hold the derma roller. It is suggested to roll 20-30 times lightly in each stated direction. Do not use too much force.

5)      Once you have covered the areas you wanted, apply Medical Grade Oxygen and let it rest for 30-60 minutes. Wash your face clean, make sure it is dry and hydrate your skin (Please read up on the products to avoid after micro needling is performed ,before applying anything on your face)

6) Disinfect your derma roller with alcohol after use.

Precautions To Take:

-Micro Needling is an invasive process and we need to take good care of our skin while performing it. Any severe damages can be long lasting or unpleasant to see.

-It is normal for the face to be reddish for minimum of 1 day, depending on how many times and how much force is applied. It is also normal to see a bit of blood. Thus, I will recommend one to perform the procedure on a Friday night and reddishness will be gone by Monday when you go to work.

-If you have sensitive skin, please check with your dermatologist if you are suitable for such procedure.

-Tip: It will be good to first try micro needling on a small part on your skin or your hand to see its effect.

-Let the skin rest 3-4 weeks after each procedure. This will allow the release of collagen to last longer as well as ensure faster recovery.

-Do not use facial washes around for 2 weeks after the procedure. If you need to, please read up on the products which are suitable.   

-Important: Ensure sun screen protection 1-2 weeks after procedure.

For more in-depth guide and research, you may visit the given site specializing on beauty and wellness.

Please do read up more before performing micro needling and take your own needed precautions. Nobody else will be liable as it is your skin after all!

Opening of DBS Multiplier & UOB One deposits

We have seen a few revamp from some of the banks such as the recent policy update by UOB One account effective 1st August 2018. Being a financial savvy adult becomes complicated nowadays, with the abundance of many deposit accounts out there such as the CIMB FastSaver Account and BOC SmartSaver Account at your discretion to earn higher interests.

Honestly, I have not been the most updated on the subject and hence was late in switching my deposit accounts to one with a higher interest. In fact, it is almost 6 months late since the revamp of the DBS Multiplier Account. Better late than never?

I have peers who are also hesitant to switch to better accounts due to the hassle involved such as informing the HR to amend the salary crediting account and the need of moving large sums of money to a new account.

As we know, different deposit accounts suit different spending habits to yield each of us an optimal annual interest.
Before I go into why I choose DBS Multiplier and UOB One, below are the factors/expenses which led to my decisions.

• Credit card spend (usually less than $500)
• 3 bills to pay (Debit GIRO Transactions)
• Crediting of salary (over $2000)
• Investments: Brokerage transactions executed almost month to month

After comparisons made between some deposit accounts and credit cards, I decided to choose UOB One and DBS Multiplier. In expense, OCBC 360 will be sacrificed soonest. Let me share with you why they are a good fit in my scenario and some of which may also be applicable to inform you on how you can take advantage of the accounts' criteria (especially on the investments portion).

DBS Multiplier Account
-Multi-Currency Account (MCA)
-Higher Interest Rates for up to first $50,000 balance
-Fall Below Fee applicable for balances under $3000

To earn juicer interests, DBS Multiplier requires you to credit your salary (mandatory) along with any one of the other 4 categories to further stack your interest returns. The great thing is that there is no minimum imposed on salary crediting amount OR credit card spend to limit us from earning higher interest. In addition, different types of currencies in your Multiplier Account are also eligible to earn you interests.

As shown below, you will be entitled for the interests even if your salary are credited into other DBS/POSB deposit accounts (than the  Multiplier account itself). This was confirmed further with the sales at the DBS branch.
Do read up on the T&C for more details.

In my opinion, DBS has the most complete product bundle currently in terms of credit card, saving accounts and investments. It will be a bonus if you are taking DBS house loan OR are insured under any of their Manulife products.

As seen in the above calculator, I can earn around 2.2% interest per annum by:
• Crediting my salary.
• Making any transaction with my POSB Everyday credit card ($1/month is also eligible). I plan to use this card as my EZ Link, since transport cost is inevitable for work.
• Executing “Buy” transactions on stocks using DBS Vickers.
• Credit of dividends into my DBS saving accounts.

To investors out there who trade foreign stocks, I am going to explain why using DBS Vickers will be very beneficial to your wallet. Here is why!

• Since the Multiplier account is able to contain 12 different foreign currencies, your money in other type of currencies (eg. USD or GBP) will no longer need to be stuck in your trading account balance doing nothing. They will be transferred to your MCA account automatically without the need of self withdrawal (if account linkage is done).
*Update: Foreign currencies are not eligible to the higher interests. 

• By using MCA, you can convert your SGD into other currencies at the banks’ rate (which is more attractive compared to a non multi-currency account). Furthermore, you can hold on to them and exchange them back to SGD when it is deemed more attractive.
• You will earn interests from your "Buy" transactions and dividends received, as explained earlier.
• As an introduction to non DBS Vickers users, "Cash Upfront" payment provides us heavily discounted brokerage fee when we purchase shares by paying cash upfront to the bank. This used to be only limited for SG stocks. Fortunately, they are now applicable to foreign stocks after you link your MCA account to the Vickers trading account.

I really like the whole Mutiplier package and it strongly favors me in earning higher interests while taking advantage of more savings from investments.

UOB One Account
-Higher Interest Rates up to the first $75,000
-Fall Below Fee applicable for balances under $500

There is an ongoing new accounts promotion from 16 July to 31 August 2018. Every new UOB account member will get $100 if the account is applied online. You will also need to deposit $5,300 into your Fresh Funds and SMS the bank to register for this promotion. Terms and conditions apply.

Since I am already holding UOB One credit card, there is no harm of having a deposit account to capitalize on rebates from forecasted wedding and travel expenses. Due to my low frequencies of hitting high credit spends, I decided to charge my monthly Prudential payments to this card to push the monthly spending above $500. (to be explained below)

There are two sections in this account in order to maximize the interest returns.
First is the almost mandatory credit card spend of $500 or more. One must note that UOB One account interests are issued month to month while UOB One card requires you to spend $500 or more for 3 consecutive months to get good rebates. On the second part, you can choose between salary credit OR 3 Debit GIRO transactions. Since my salary credit is already used on DBS Multiplier, I shall perform my 3 bill payments under UOB One account instead.

To avoid the fall below fee, only a minimum balance of $500 is required (which differs significantly from the $3000 requirement in OCBC 360 and DBS Multiplier).

So give it a though, which packages out there suit you most?
Feel free to throw your questions if you have any doubts on the two accounts mentioned.

With all these said, the many different interest account packages are making Singapore Saving Bonds (SSB) much less attractive nowadays, especially for people with lesser net worth. Just my opinion.

Saving 47% to 50% of my Salary: Expenses

There are some fellow bloggers who really did a great job in their savings during their twenties.

We have endless factors spurring or hindering us to how much we had saved today. It comes down to the level of indulgence in terms of food and leisure, how we control our expenses in transportation and utility bills, how cheap or expensive our interests/hobbies are, the type of insurance plans we get or avoid, the investment decisions we make and the interests/rebates we earn.

Realistically speaking, kids whose parents pay for their education, car licenses and hobbies will surely have an advantage in accumulating more cash. Males will tend to lose out in savings due to two years serving the nation with less than minimum wage. As long as we are doing what we can in our own different journeys, we will be able to accept the reality.

So how do you save? Even savers like me tend to give in to spending by taking a cab when fatigue creeps over. You will be surprised that there are tyrants who take buses with heavy luggages after a long flight just to save on cab fare. What is our excuse now?  Lol.

In my opinion, there are three essential components that will ultimately drive us towards retirement. This is not applicable to opening up a business.

1. Decent salary: It will be hard or maybe impossible to grow our savings fast if we do not have a good inward cash flow (a lower salary makes it slow).
2. Compounding & Growth (Investments): It is almost a crime to lose wealth to inflation. What we can do is earning through interest/dividends and optimizing rebates from our spending.
3. Frugality (Savings): Saving is the capital base we work from. It is just like opening a business, we cannot do anything without suffice capital. It is also not just about setting some money aside but the efforts made in looking out for value buys and only purchasing what we need.

Here is how I save every month:

Food/Snacks:
-Lunch expenses on weekdays had gone up working at the CBD area, doubling from an average $4/meal to $8/meal.
-Snacks from Value Dollar Shop. If you are eating the snacks soon, why worry about them nearing expiry date? In fact, the expiry dates are not too near if you really check.
-I enjoy great coffee from Coffee Hive at $1.50/ cup, enjoying $1 rebate from every $10 top up from their member cards. Say no to expensive diluted coffee.
-Planning to make Rolled Oats to save some money over the weekends.

Travel:
-I usually get around in Singapore in my own bicycle and in the morning if possible to avoid the crowd. It is also free and healthy. The hot weather is a nuisance sometimes.

Fitness:
-This is free as I go to my corporate gym in a hotel. The pool and sauna are also available. To think of it, it feels good not having to pay any entry fees or expensive monthly bills which costs almost $80-120 per month. Since not everyone has free gym in their work, it is suggested to train at public exercise corners.
-Jogging outdoors: FOC

Bills:
-Mobile Phone under Corporate plan: Enjoying 12GB at $20+ rate per month
-Broadband: Around $55 per month for the whole family
-Saving plans at $110 per month (please avoid such plans). I can actually add this as savings instead of expenditures since the money are not spent.

Miscellaneous:
-Allowance to my parents: Around 14% of my salary
-Planning to stick to $5 haircut as compared to the past $12 haircut at QB House.
-It is unlikely for a guy like me but I do my own facial using Micro-needling. The whole set costs around $200 and can last me more than 10 procedures. Each session outside will cost you more than $110 or above. So I saved about $900 in 10 sessions! ([110X10] -200)
The procedure help maintains youthfulness and removes facial scars. If anyone is interested, I can share more in a post.

Side note:
Differing from my earlier portfolio update, I have to share that Valuetronics was replaced by Bumitama Agri and will be explained next time. As marriage is nearing, I have to exert more control in my cash allocation in the market. This is why stocks are switched instantly instead of over exposing myself in the market.

The portfolio is now updated at https://tobidortosell.blogspot.sg/p/current-holdings.html